"We got hit bad because the ocean washed through ...if they build up the dunes, weâll never get that kind of surge again."

The revised FEMA maps came too late for Mike Rogers and his neighbor Joe DeScenza.

The men live across the street from each other in the Shore Acres section of Brick, where street after street dead-ends at Havens Cove or Kettle Creek and a network of man-made lagoons all lead to the open waters of Barnegat Bay, making it a boater’s paradise.

"I saw the original brochures, when they built this place (after World War II) and they advertised it as the ‘Venice of New Jersey,’ " DeScenza said.

Of course, there are differences. Put aside their patrician merchant history, Renaissance art and architecture, and the romantic gondolas, the big difference between their Venice and our Venice is that our Venice never flooded much.

"Sometimes the storm drains would back up, and during Irene we got a few inches of water," said Rogers. "But it never washed over the bulkheads like (Sandy)."

Rogers and DeScenza live near the southern tip of Drum Point Road, which cuts through or near Brick’s bayfront sections of Cherry Quay, Baywood and Shore Acres. Those original "Venice of New Jersey" summer cottages grew into an architecturally diverse neighborhood of modern, million-dollar homes, sitting side-by-side with modest Capes and the old beach shacks.

It was the older homes, most built at ground level or with cinder block crawl spaces over concrete slabs, that were most damaged by Sandy.

Hundreds of homes through there are still uninhabitable, as owners wait for some combination of insurance settlements, building permits, contractor availability, or a definitive answer on the new flood FEMA flood zone requirements.

The latter came — again — this weekend, when FEMA changed the designation for thousands of homes from the high-impact V zone to the lesser-risk A zone. The V zone is for areas that can be hit by high velocity waves; the A is for more routine coastal flooding.

People inland on the bays complained about the V designation. Shore Acres, for instance, is about 2.5 miles from the oceanfront and is protected by the barrier island.

"We got hit bad only because the ocean washed through at the Mantoloking Bridge," DeScenza said. "If they built up the dunes the right way, we’ll never get that kind of surge again."

A grassroots organization, Stop FEMA Now grew out of Brick and Toms River communities, where people who never flooded before were suddenly confronted with raising their homes as much as 14-feet above sea level or face exorbitant flood insurance premiums.

This weekend’s news is a victory for those people.

"Before the storm we had 400 homes in the V zone, and that includes the oceanfront," said Brick mayor Steve Acropolis. "The first (FEMA) maps put 4,022 homes in V zones. Now we think we only have about 835 still in the V zone."

Both Rogers, DeScenza and their Drum Point neighbors went from V to A, but it didn’t matter to either. Their homes were destroyed and when they decided to build new, modular houses, they decided to go all the way up. And they are still glad they did.

"Besides, what am I going to do? Drop it? Get 42 guys with chainsaws and cut three-feet out (of the pilings) at the same time," DeScenza said.

Rogers, a former Harrison councilman, rode out the storm on his boat, a 42-foot live-aboard trawler called the "Clothehilde," which is docked behind his home. At one point the boat became level with his second floor as the tidal surge almost boosted it over the dock.

"At that point, I knew it was bad," he said.

The cinder block foundation was cracked and water destroyed everything on the first floor.

"I decided to tear it down," he said. "Then I figured if I’m going to go up, I might as well put a garage underneath."

He lived on the boat most of the winter, before moving in with his brother in Seaside Park. The old house was torn down in January. The 36 pilings to support the new two-bedroom house, were driven 20-feet into the ground in spring, and the modules were delivered in May. Rogers hopes to be in the new house by mid-July.

Rogers only issue are the steps. There are 15 now, and he’s not looking forward to the daily climbs as he gets older.

"This is my retirement home," he said. "I’m 60 now, so it’s only going to get worse."

The 13 new steps at DeScenza’s house are an issue, too.

"I have a 97-year-old mother-in-law I got to get in and out of here," he said.

But there are advantages.

"Come up," DeScenza said. "Look at this view."

The house now towers over his dock, pool and hot tub, and the view goes out to Kettle Creek.

"And there’s always a breeze," he said. "It comes right off the bay. It’s beautiful."